In order to reverse the drift of the desert and allow people to live better off their land, Northern Africa has embarked on a ambitious environmental and social project: building the Great Green Wall. If completed, the wall with be a nine mile wide stretch of trees crossing 5,000 miles and 11 countries, from Senegal to Djibouti.

As climate change heightens, drought threatens the region south of the Sahara, called the Sahel. The goal of the wall of trees is that the ecosystemic impact that trees have on the soils, the microbes, the microwildlife, and even megafauna and flora, will also positively help the humans living in the area.

The World Bank has promised nearly $2 billion to help pay for the implementation of the wall. The African Union and UN are also supporting the project. Locals have hope that the wall will change their living situations for the better, providing them with more fertile land for agriculture and livestock keeping.